Tuesday, 16 October 2007

Favourite Vegetable - Beetroot

i never used to like beetroot. maybe it was because i had only tried the nasty pickled stuff you buy in a jar, or maybe, like many other things (fish, shellfish, mushrooms etc) i tried it once as a child decided there and then that hated it and refused to try it again. if have found recentlyby retrying many foods that my taste buds have matured and have found a new love for many foods. if you do have a food you "think" you don't like give it a try again, you may be surprised.

so to beetroot. well, from my previous post you will see i've had great success growing it this year. and when i found my new love for this under-rated vegetable, i then planted some more seeds, however although they have grown to the size of mini/baby beetroot, i think i may have left it too late and i'm not sure if they will grow any more. however if they don't, i was reading last night, in my research for this post that if you leave them over winter and then let them grow for a second season, this is when they then flower and produce seed.

in fact i'm preciously treasuring the few i have left that are a good size in my own garden that i have been buying them from a lady in the village who has a large garden and fruit trees and sells lots of the veg she grows. from her its 50p for a bunch which normally contains about 8 large golf ball sized beet.

Tescos only have about 5 in a bunch i think for a lot more money (i can't find it on their website, they only have cooked beetroot and jarred beetroot on there).

i also found beetroot juice at a local farmers market, which i tried. It's by James White. it's 90% beetroot and 10% apple. a quick solution when i can't be bothered to get my juicer out and juice my own.

so how do you grow beetroot? well i'm aware that this post is getting longer than i planned (as usual!) so have a look here. my method - make a shallow trench plant seed at about every 4 inches, cover with soil, leave to its own devices, remember to water now and again and thin out when you remember to. i did try it in pots but they didn't even grow to the size of baby beets.As for eating and cooking, it makes a fab risotto

i tried beetroot crisps (but got impatient and turned it to grill which them burnt half of them - shall try again today on a high heat but oven NOT grill!)